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robbor

Whip finisher for midges?

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Im mainly just starting to tie small flies 30-20.

Would it be worth it to get some sort of midge whip finisher?

I have a std whip finisher already

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I've used my standard sized Matterelli to whip finish a couple of flies as small as 30 (tied them because I wanted to see (no pun intended) if I could. No problem at all for 20 - 24's. I'm not aware if anyone even makes a smaller size whip finisher for smaller flies.

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I have two or three whip finishers in at least two styles and most of the time I use my fingers.

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I use my Matarelli whip finisher down to size 24 which is the smallest hook I stock though rarely use these days. Anyway no issue with this whip finisher on any fly I've tied from 1/0 to size 24 in 30 years of using it.. Never thought I needed any special whip finisher for small flies, nor have I desired one... I'm 100% satisfied with the Matarelli. Sometimes I use my fingers because I'm too lazy to get the whip finisher out but that's a different matter. I've tied lots of size 20 chironamids over the years too.

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a dab of crazy glue on your tying thread and 3-4 wraps of thread in the head area and voila!

 

no tools required

 

or

 

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For those that use your fingers, do you have super smooth and silky hands or do you find that flat thread catches on your dry calloused skin and tears the thread? It might not impact the performance or look of the fly, but I hate it.

 

It's so bad that I have started using more round thread instead of flat. Maybe I should learn how to use one of these tools.

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I have a rough sharpening stone that I use to sand my fingers and thumbs before tying flies. I take the callouses and dry skin off. You don't have to take so much that you're "extra sensitive" or anything, just enough to get rid of the "catch points".

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For those that use your fingers, do you have super smooth and silky hands or do you find that flat thread catches on your dry calloused skin and tears the thread? It might not impact the performance or look of the fly, but I hate it.

 

It's so bad that I have started using more round thread instead of flat. Maybe I should learn how to use one of these tools.

I'm a Polak if I can do it with a Matarelli anyone can.

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Sand calluses (emery board) or soak them in vinegar to soften them. Some threads fray worse than others, but the stiff-sharp callus makes handing of other materials catchy too.

The whip finish tool doesn't touch or even really come close to the hook so that size of hook has no effect on results as far as I can tell. One Matarell style finisher of any size should work on any size hook, I think,

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For those that use your fingers, do you have super smooth and silky hands or do you find that flat thread catches on your dry calloused skin and tears the thread? It might not impact the performance or look of the fly, but I hate it.

 

It's so bad that I have started using more round thread instead of flat. Maybe I should learn how to use one of these tools.

I keep an emery board in my tying kit. I also keep a small "hotel" bottle of hand lotion handy. You don't sand the skin off, you just gently remove the layer of dry skin, and smooth up rough edges.

 

I need to practice that one-finger method. It looks a bit awkward, but could be fun when doing a public demo....

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For those that use your fingers, do you have super smooth and silky hands or do you find that flat thread catches on your dry calloused skin and tears the thread? It might not impact the performance or look of the fly, but I hate it.

 

It's so bad that I have started using more round thread instead of flat. Maybe I should learn how to use one of these tools.

 

I keep an emery board in my tying kit. I also keep a small "hotel" bottle of hand lotion handy. You don't sand the skin off, you just gently remove the layer of dry skin, and smooth up rough edges.

 

I need to practice that one-finger method. It looks a bit awkward, but could be fun when doing a public demo....

Sounds like what I would do on date night. Smooth Operator.

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fshng2 hit it square on the head. Not expensive and good for very small flies. I've had one for about 5 years now and even use it on larger flies.

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